Unclench your hands from its delicate majesty. You must hold it, as you do a butterfly, careful not to crush its tender nature. Beauty is a gossamer web, easily dashed by the overbearing.
Madame Viola Marquette
Of the Velvet Moon Brothel
Nochebraga, Etos
The creature lifted his head, taking in the sun-kissed moss and mammoth, ancient trees in the clearing. He was curled in a tight circle, his elegant legs folded underneath and midnight blue hooves tucked away. Disturbed from slumber, he raised his velvet nose, trying to capture a scent on the breeze.
The lunacervus bent inward to scratch an itch on his hindquarters, his starlight coat twitching. His antlers extended impressively from the crown of his head, moss swinging from them as he bit and scratched, obsidian eyes shut.
A pool of shadows adjusted in the forest. A gray figure was trying to disguise their movements under their smoke-ribboned cloak. They were irritated, rushed. The forest was inconveniently silent, with no ambient sound to mask their movements.
They would simply have to make this work. A creak and a whistle, as an arrow was loosed on the Lunacervus, targeting the small spot on its long neck below its chin. The beast reacted at an unnatural speed, wrenching its head to scatter the arrow with its horns.
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Exploding from their shadow, the figure charged the creature, their wide skean sword and dagger drawn. The Lunacervus was on his feet before the figure had crossed a quarter of the clearing. His soft lips stretched open over white fangs, and he exhaled a low growl.
The figure in cloaks stopped abruptly just a few feet away, realizing they had lost the element of surprise. The Lunacervus stood tall, his antlers towering over his adversary. As he took them in, he roared, his mouth unhinging to reveal rows and rows of jagged teeth. His hooves, hard as sapphires, beat divots into the hard-packed ground.
Posturing is what a Lunacervus would do when presented with a natural threat, but his adversary was no natural threat. They leapt forward with grotesque speed, their cloak snapping behind them. With the short sword in their leading hand, they aimed again for the beast’s exposed neck.
The Lunacervus snapped its head down, taking the leap as a signal that it would be crossing horns with a rival today. It was not a stupid creature, but some actions are so ingrained in a species that they can be counted on. The grey stranger knew these secrets, about this raseri and others, and counted on them.
They allowed their skean to be wrenched away by the creature’s horns and sent themselves flying at an opposite angle, trying to pass his head. The Lunacervus was fast, and though his horns were angled the other direction, he managed to twist his head and sink his front teeth into the figure’s shoulder, halting the swirl of cloaks mid-leap.
The angle had been lucky for the stranger, and he hadn’t managed to bite through the hardened pauldron underneath. He did have enough grip to jerk his head upward and throw his adversary across the clearing. They should have landed hard on their back, but like a cat, they were able to twist and right themselves. They skid to a stop in a swirl of shadow.
It only took one leap for the Lunacervus to come crashing down onto them, landing a sapphire hoof inches from their ear. Had their reflexes not been heightened, there would be a goreish mess in the grass where their head used to be.
The beast snapped downward with their mouth wide, spotting open skin and hoping to rip its adversary’s throat straight from their spine. Before his teeth touched flesh, the figure slammed the dagger they still carried into the creature’s temple. Blood gushed onto their face, neck, and chest, and the massive Lunacervuus collapsed onto them.
“Shit.”
